FAO/Andrea Tedori

As the Syrian Arab Republic faces growing challenges of climate change and water scarcity, innovative solutions for adaptable and resilient agricultural systems are more critical than ever to improve the food and nutrition security situation and resilience of affected farmers.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has piloted a promising new climate-smart agricultural (CSA) technique known as ‘raised bed cultivation’. This comes as a complementary activity to the ongoing rehabilitation works on surface irrigation and drainage networks in Dayr Hafir subdistrict in rural Aleppo, conducted under the Building Local Resilience in Syria (BLRS) phase 1 project, funded by UK Aid.

The raised bed cultivation technique aims at improving field irrigation efficiency, water productivity and boosting crop production and productivity. The experiment was conducted on three pilot wheat fields in Dayr Hafir district, where FAO hosted a field day attended by 60 local farmers, showcasing the innovative method and the results of this trial.

“The ‘raised bed cultivation’ technique utilizes a specialized machine that simultaneously digs irrigation furrows, raises cultivation beds between them, and seeds the soil in these beds at the same time, which guarantees minimal use of machinery” explains Riham Zahalan, FAO natural resources specialist.

As a result of the proper land preparation by this technique, irrigation water infiltrates horizontally into the root zone instead of flooding the soil surface, which increases the efficiency of inputs such as water, seeds and fertilizers. This also improves drainage function and alleviates soil salinization risks.

Tawfik Al-Hamdo, a farmer who owns one of the wheat fields where the technique was piloted, expressed his enthusiasm about its positive results: "I tested the raised bed cultivation method in my 5.5 dunam wheat field; there were great benefits in terms of reducing the amount of irrigation water and seeds, in addition to facilitating agricultural services and reducing the time and effort needed for farming.”

Building on these results, FAO plans to extend the trial to include a wider range of crops and encourage broader adoption among local farmers. FAO agriculture socio-economic specialist for irrigation projects, Lubna Jareaa, emphasizes these plans: "After this successful trial in three wheat fields, FAO will evaluate the machine’s effectiveness for summer crops such as yellow corn and on crops of smaller size seeds such as sesame. The raised bed machine is also adjustable to form the desirable shape of the beds in terms of the length and the width.”

With more promising results expected, ownership and operation of the needed machineries will be handed to the local community through the Water User Associations (WUAs) that will be established along key rehabilitated irrigation canals. This, in turn, will ensure sustained, efficient, and climate-smart agricultural production in Dayr Hafir.